P&G picks Greensboro for $100M expansion, 200 jobs

Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co. has selected Greensboro for a $100 million plant expansion that will yield 200 jobs during the next three years and allow the consumer products giant to increase production of its fast-growing line of Olay skin care products.

The announcement to expand the 6200 Bryan Park Road plant in Browns Summit comes after the city and county approved about $2 million in local incentives to attract the expansion. The Greensboro City Council signed off on $961,000 in incentives and Guilford County commissioners approved $975,000 in incentives.

P&G (NYSE: PG) plans to invest $30 million on property improvements and $70 million in new machinery and equipment at the Browns Summit plant, where Olay will add to a portfolio of brands already made at the facility including Crest toothpaste and Old Spice and Secret deodorant.

Brent Holmes, site capability manager for the Browns Summit plant, said the company was eyeing other locations in the Carolinas. But expanding locally made the most sense because the P&G plant already has a talented staff of 650 workers and 1,000 contractors at the Browns Summit plant. The plant, which is one of the company’s largest in terms of employment, also benefits from its proximity to major thoroughfares and ports.

To quickly ramp up capacity for Olay products, P&G is pushing ahead on efforts to hire the first of the 200 jobs through a variety of avenues including online postings, newspaper advertisements and collaboration with local work force officials.

The average annual salary for the new jobs, whose positions will include technicians and managers, will be more than $52,000.

Holmes said the company is working to line up contractors for construction slated to begin next month on two production lines dedicated to Olay skin care products.

“There is a lot of emphasis on skin care,” he said. “That continues to grow. We just need to keep up with demand.”

He did not say how much volume the lines would add, but said both lines are expected to be fully operational by 2014. The products made at the Browns Summit plant will be shipped to stores throughout North America.

“We have to have it up and running within the next 12 months,” Holmes said of the production lines. “We’ve got to execute this well. We want the company to continue to have confidence in Greensboro.”

The company also plans to hire multiple contractors for upfits to the facility for everything from utility to HVAC work.

“A number of companies have contacted us here locally,” he said.

Andrew Brod, a senior research fellow in UNC Greensboro’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said P&G’s expansion will not only add well-paying jobs to the area, but also create a multiplier effect with numerous opportunities for local contractors in the region.

“When you have manufacturing companies, there are often really strong links to companies that provide everything from packaging to stationary to other services,” he said.

Olay growth

P&G’s local expansion is a strategy to quickly capitalize on demand for skin care products of Olay, which is one of the company’s 25 brands that each generate more than $1 billion in sales each year.

P&G gained Olay when it acquired Richardson-Vicks in 1985. P&G changed the name to Olay in 1999 from Oil of Olay. By the early 2000s, Olay became a billion-dollar brand for P&G.

Nikoleta Panteva, a senior retail analyst with consumer research firm IBISWorld, said P&G holds the No. 2 spot in the $5 billion “cosmeceutical” market, a growing industry that includes anti-aging and wrinkle-reducing moisturizers and creams.

P&G accounts for 21.9 percent of the market while L’Oreal holds the No.1 spot at 28.5 percent.

Panteva said P&G’s Olay line is quickly growing due to its widely recognized name and price point available to a wide range of consumers. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for skin care products, Olay offers price points below $30, she said.

“Olay is very accessible to the consumer,” she said. “It’s a well recognized brand and it follows a consumer trend that is really hot right now.”